The Royal Capital
“Satou here. A little bit of trouble at your destination is part of the fun of traveling, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy getting caught in the middle of various issues. Too much excitement makes me feel like I should stop in at a shrine and request an exorcism.”
“I am Zef Juleburg the Unstoppable, First Seat of the Shiga Eight Swordsmen. I have come to request a duel with you, Sir Pendragon the Untouchable!”
The gray-haired knight made this alarming proclamation with a commanding expression.
He held a magic spear with a white handle and a bluish adamantite-alloy spearhead; it was clear from the ornamentation and magical imbuement—which were at once both elegant and grand—that it was the work of a fine alchemist and engraver.
He seemed eager to fight, but unfortunately I didn’t feel the same way.
Yes, I accepted the Fairy Sword that one of my companions handed to me from behind, but that didn’t mean I intended to draw it.
I was still exhausted from catching those terrorists in the act of trying to assassinate Duke Vistall and from landing the airship safely in lieu of the wounded captain and crew.
Attempting to hint as much, I pointedly looked back at the airship where it had emergency-landed, but Sir Zef Juleburg took one quick glance and ignored the hint completely.
“Here I come!” he said.
Without waiting for my answer, Sir Juleburg dismounted from his horse and swiftly charged toward me.
Yikes!
On pure reflex, I dodged the sudden attack by a hair.
When cheers rose from the crowd around us, I realized my mistake, but by then it was too late.
I couldn’t very well let his barrage of strikes hit me on purpose, although I at least protested by dodging them dramatically instead of by a hair’s breadth.
“Very impressive. Now I understand why Helmina kept recommending you at every opportunity,” he said.
Looking past Sir Juleburg, I saw the Fifth Seat of the Shiga Eight Swordsmen, the gun user, Lady Helmina, grinning eagerly.
I knew it. So you were to blame for all this…
“Now, draw your sword. Or is that fancy weapon at your waist just for show?”
Sorry, but yes, it is.
At this point, not drawing my sword would seem like an insult to Sir Juleburg. I decided to spar with him for a little while, then pick a good time to lose so spectacularly that he would never try to get me to fight him again.
As soon as I drew my sword, the peanut gallery surrounding us let out gasps of admiration.
Because of my beautiful Fairy Sword, of course, not because of me.
“So you’re finally rising to the challenge, are you? Then I’ll let you have the first move. Come at me, Pendr—”
“Hey! Stop, stop!”
A middle-aged man with stern features and a hawklike nose jumped in front of Baronet Jelil as the latter readied his spear. It was Duke Vistall, the man who had almost been assassinated by employees of his disowned eldest son on the way here.
“Do you not see this disaster?! His Majesty’s airship was attacked, and yours truly, a noble leader of the kingdom, was nearly assassinated! Stop playing around like this and go chase the criminals who ran off with my Holy Ch—I mean, my daughter!”
Spittle flew from the duke’s mouth as he shouted.
Hmm? What was he about to say instead of “daughter”?
Since she’s a noble’s kid, maybe she has a fancy title like “Holy Child” or something.
“Pssst, master.”
The young girl, Arisa, tugged on my sleeve from behind me, her lilac hair hidden by a blond wig.
“If the duke’s daughter has been kidnapped, isn’t this Team Pendragon’s time to shine?”
She batted her eyes up at me hopefully.
“Let’s-a gooo…?”
“Scrambled eggs, sir!”
Tama, a laid-back girl with short white hair and cat ears and a tail, and Pochi, an energetic girl with a brown bob and dog ears and a tail, raised their fists in agreement next to Arisa.
Pochi was obsessed with eating, so it was nothing new for her to mix up the emergency “scramble” maneuver with “scrambled eggs.” I could just correct her later.
“Master, is a larva in danger?”
The buxom blond, Nana, ever the guardian to small children, spoke up in a stern voice, despite her usual lack of expression.
As a magical man-made homunculus, she appeared to be around high school age but was actually still less than one year old.
“Well, actually…”
I had Arisa use the Space Magic spell Tactical Talk so I could convey information only to the rest of my group.
Right before the internal strife in Vistall Duchy culminated in the airship attack incident, the child in question—Duke Vistall’s youngest daughter, Somienna—along with her mother, the duke’s first wife, escaped from danger alongside several guards on a lifeboat.
Afraid she was being kidnapped, I checked things out with the Space Magic spell Clairvoyance right away, but while young Somienna herself looked confused, her mother was behaving as if it was all according to plan.
Thus, I assumed that she was on the side of the count’s eldest son, Torriel, who was presumed to be the mastermind behind the attack.
“I see… Thank goodness.”
Lulu, a girl so beautiful that you could lose your grasp on reality just by staring at her, patted her chest in relief that it wasn’t a kidnapping.
The contrast between the pure-white dress that reflected her kind nature and the jet-black hair that glimmered in the sunlight only enhanced her Japanese-style beauty.
“Master?”
Liza, a young woman from the orangescale tribe with scales near her wrists and neck, called out to me urgently.
She had kept her guard up even while we were casually conversing, holding her beloved Magic Cricket Spear and keeping a close eye on Sir Juleburg of the Shiga Eight Swordsmen.
“Sir Pendragon, forgive me. I know I am the one who requested a sparring match, but I must request a postponement for now.”
Baronet Jelil apologized to me grimly.
I would really prefer to call it off altogether than “postpone” it, though.
“This is no time to be talking to a lowly hereditary knight—”
“I must now go recover the stolen Holy Chalice. I will send an emissary to you in the next few days; I hope you will show me what you’re truly made of then.”
With that, Sir Juleburg vanished beyond the crowd, with his Holy Knights and fellow Shiga Eight Swordsmen ally, Lady Helmina, in tow.
That seemed to satisfy Duke Vistall, who returned to where his wives were waiting.
The Scarlet Nobleman, Baronet Jelil, and his comrades from the Red Dragon’s Roar, too, had produced horses and went chasing after Sir Juleburg and the others.
“…Holy Chalice?”
The last member of my group, an elf girl named Mia with light-blue hair done up in pigtails, repeated Sir Juleburg’s words quietly.
Her slightly pointed ears, an elf’s chief identifier, were hidden beneath a simple hood.
“I wonder what that’s about?”
Even as I responded to Mia, I realized that the words Duke Vistall had begun to say when declaring that his daughter had been stolen were probably “Holy Chalice.”
“Maybe it’s an artifact that can use Prayer Magic or something!”
I knew exactly where Arisa’s mind had wandered upon hearing the word chalice, so I scolded her for jumping straight to thoughts of anime.
Searching the map, I found that several of them existed in the royal capital, including in a treasure room beneath the royal castle. The detailed information informed me that it was an artifact that collected miasma from its surroundings.
When I didn’t get any hits outside the royal capital, I tried searching for the name of Duke Vistall’s youngest daughter, Somienna, instead.
They’re not as far away as I thought.
They hadn’t moved very far from the area where the lifeboat took off.
There was no item called a Holy Chalice in her vicinity. Since Somienna had the “Item Box” skill, it was almost certainly stored away in there.
More importantly, I had discovered something I couldn’t ignore while looking for her.
“Sorry, Mia, but could you summon some sylphs? Two—no, three of them, please.”
“Mm. Got it.”
Without asking for the reason, Mia began using the Spirit Magic spell Create Wind Spirit.
“Is something up?” Arisa asked me quietly.
Since I still had Tactical Talk enabled, I heard her voice both through that and my “Keen Hearing” skill.
“Yeah…”
By the time I was done explaining, Mia’s Spirit Magic had summoned the three sylphs.
They looked like semitransparent women. The crowd exclaimed when they appeared, but I ignored them, more concerned with mediating another urgent problem.
“We’ll be back, I boldly declare.”
“Go, sylphs.”
The sylphs carried Nana, Mia, and me away, weaving between trees to avoid being seen. Then they lifted us into the air some distance away from the main road, flying toward the direction of Labyrinth City.
“““Master!”””
Seven identical faces called out to me in perfect unison.
It was Nana’s sisters and fellow homunculi: Number 1 through Number 6, along with Number 8.
They once served the Undead King, Zen, but registered me as their owner when he passed on and started calling me “master” like Nana.
“Mia and I are here, too, I declare.”
Nana looked as expressionless as ever, although there was a slightly pouty tone to her voice.
“““Number 7!”””
“My name is Nana now, I correct.”
“Nana,” her sisters affirmed in response to her complaint. Then they continued, “““Princess!”””
“Not princess.” Mia strongly objected to the title they’d referred to her by when she was being held captive in the Cradle by Zen. “Mia.”
“““Lady Mia!”””
Mia nodded at this, looking satisfied.
“Erm, do you know these young ladies?”
“Yes, and I’m terribly sorry for the trouble they’ve caused you.”
I bowed my head to the hesitant middle-aged merchant.
Behind him were several crashed carriages, horses lying down and foaming at the mouth, and a great deal of luggage scattered all over the ground. The overturned carriages and piles of luggage were blocking the road.
Beyond all this, at the edge of a forest, was a giant creature that looked like a cross between a crab and a spider, sitting with its legs drawn inward. It was a level-30 monster called a long-legged spider crab, which Number 8 had trained and made into a mount.
Judging by the current state of things, the sisters must have ridden the long-legged spider crab out of the forest and appeared in front of the merchant and company as they were traveling along the road; the horses and coachmen must have panicked and tried to stop or change directions, resulting in this chaotic mess.
I had noticed this situation as I was investigating the whereabouts of Duke Vistall’s youngest daughter, Somienna, on the map, and I’d come running in a hurry to help.
“I will explain the situation to master. You take charge of the repair work, Number 2.”
Number 2 nodded at the directive from Number 1 and set about cleaning up.
“Nana, help your sisters with the cleanup, please.”
“Yes, master.”
Nana walked lightly toward her sisters.
After a brief explanation from Number 1 and an introduction to the merchant in question, I told him I would pay for all the damage the sisters had caused.
“Sir Pendragon? Are you by any chance related to the ‘Pirate Hunter’ Liquor Marquis Pendragon?”
“I wasn’t aware of the ‘Pirate Hunter’ nickname, but yes, I am a Liquor Marquis in the Kingdom of Sorcery, Lalagi.”
When we were traveling on the sugar route in the southern islands, I’d located pirates on the map and implemented a search-and-destroy protocol to ensure that the Dragonpen Trading Company, which I’d helped fund, could sail safely.
That must be how I wound up with this new nickname.
“I thought as much! You may not remember him, but my uncle is the captain of a merchant ship. You saved his life and several other friends of mine as well.”
He gave me the names of the people I’d apparently saved, and sure enough, I got matching results when I searched those names in the list of rescued people in my networking tab’s memo pad.
I’ve saved so many people in the sugar route that I don’t remember most of them.
“What a coincidence,” I said vaguely, and I moved on to the subject of compensation.
“There’s no need to reimburse me. Our goods are all packed very thoroughly, and none of the carriages have broken axels,” he rattled off eagerly. “Truly, it must be fate that I was able to meet the person who saved my uncle and friends. We’ll be staying in the capital until the new year—please come see us if you need anything. I’m afraid I can’t give it to you for free, but we’ll certainly give you the deepest discounts we can!”
It didn’t seem like he was going to accept payment for the damages.
Since his trading company dealt in goods from the sugar route, he probably had some interesting items for sale. I figured I would just buy a bunch of things from him to make up for the likely damage costs with the resulting profit.
“““Oooooh!”””
Hearing a commotion from the direction of Nana and her sisters, I excused myself from my conversation with the middle-aged merchant and turned toward them.
The merchants and other travelers who’d been held up by the mess in the road were exclaiming in surprise as they watched the group of homunculi righting the fallen carriages.
It looked like they should have been able to clear the road quickly enough without help from me or from Mia’s magic.
Still, I didn’t want to just stand around while they worked, so I handed my formal coat off to Mia and went to help the middle-aged merchant inspect the carriages and goods.
“Hey now! What fools dare block the road?! Move your carriages aside and make way already!”
I heard an angry voice from somewhere beyond the traffic jam on the road.
Alarmingly enough, a young knight in military garb was waving his unsheathed sword and threatening people as he made his way toward us.
It was one of the terrorists who had taken Duke Vistall’s daughter into custody.
Since I’d been looking for them in the first place when I happened to spot Nana’s sisters, it wasn’t too surprising that they were nearby.
“My apologies, Sir Knight. We’ll have them all moving again by the fourth cycle, if you would be so kind as to wait just a little longer, please. It’s not much, but allow me to offer these as an apology—”
“You dare mock me, lowlife?!”
Even as the middle-aged merchant held up a money pouch as an apology, the furious knight began to swing his sword at the man.
You think I’d let that happen?
I knocked the sword aside with a quick palm strike.
“You insolent cur!”
Now bright red, the knight slashed his sword toward me instead. I calmly grabbed his arm, yanked him off his horse, and pinned him to the ground.
“What do you think you’re doing?! Do you not see the family crest of Duke Vistall?! If you turn your sword on us, you are declaring rebellion against the house of Duke Vistall!”
A young noble in somewhat fancy military garb appeared with two knights in tow, forcing the crowd and carriages imperiously to the side of the road. Behind him was a plain carriage that was painted black.
It seemed a little outrageous for someone who had plotted to assassinate Duke Vistall to turn around and try to hide behind his name, though.
And while he appeared to have forgotten, the Vistall crest was nowhere to be seen on his carriage or his knights’ mantles. He must have been accustomed to spewing this nonsense.
“Aah! You were on the airship!”
A little girl leaned out the window of the carriage and pointed at me—none other than Miss Somienna, Duke Vistall’s youngest daughter.
Just as I’d noted when they’d initially escaped, she didn’t appear to be restrained or otherwise trapped.
“This man was on that airship?! Then you must be pursuers!”
His haughty pretense gone, the young noble shrieked in alarm, and the knights around him drew their swords menacingly.
“Somienna! Stay inside!”
“But, Mother—”
An older woman, the duke’s first wife, pulled Miss Somienna back into the carriage in a hurry.
“The duke cannot know about us! We’ll silence all of you here and now!”
On hearing this, the people around us scattered, fleeing into the forest.
This man intended to kill everyone here just to keep them quiet.
That was certainly a typical terrorist mindset, but I wasn’t going to let it slide.
“Nana, you take the left half. Mia, protect the bystanders from magic attacks.”
“Yes, master.”
“Mm, got it. ……”
Still in formal dresses, Nana and Mia jumped into action.
“““DIE!”””
Nana and I knocked out the attacking knights one after another.
While I was using just my palm, Nana used her Shield-generating bracelet and a “One-Handed Sword” from her Fairy Pack to knock the men out.
The sword was one thing, but I had to feel a little bad for the guys getting taken down by a shield in the shape of a yellow chick.
“Master, let us help, too.”
“No, you protect the merchants and the others with Mia, please.”
I sent Number 1 and company back to the rear.
Although the homunculi could probably take on multiple enemies like this, the enemy commander and a few of the others were around level 30, so it was possible they’d get seriously wounded in the process.
Just to be safe, I wanted to keep them out of the battle if possible.
Besides…
“You who would bathe the streets of Shiga Kingdom with blood! We are the noble Third Regiment of Knights, the patrollers of the capital! Put away your swords at once, or you will be considered bandits and executed!”
…I had noticed on my radar that the highway guards were approaching.
The Third Regiment appeared to be quite skillful: They protected the merchants and other civilians while steadily incapacitating the terrorist knights.
“Looks like the knights of the royal capital are seriously skilled.”
“Mm. Strong.”
Considering that most of them were only in their 20s level-wise, even if they did have the advantage of numbers, it was impressive that they were dominating against a group that included a knight over level 30. It was probably only a matter of time until they had suppressed all the terrorists.
“Grrr… So this is as far as we go?!”
The young nobleman in the military outfit groaned, opened the door of the carriage, and sent the duke’s wife and youngest daughter to flee on horseback.
Their two horses went down a slope on the left side of the road.
“Two horses getting away! Squad Two, after them!”
Hearing the wife and daughter scream, the commander of the patrolling knights noticed them escaping and sent part of the squadron to chase them down.
“Lady Tohomaenna!” the lady knight on the horse cried out.
The duke’s first wife, who was riding with her, had fallen off. According to my map information, she’d broken her neck in the fall and was on the verge of death.
“Mother! Turn back, my mother fell!”
“No, Lady Somienna! We must at least get you to Lord Torriel, or our comrades will have died in vain on the airship.”
I could faintly hear the young noble and the duke’s daughter from far away.
Clearly, the youngest daughter—no, the Holy Chalice—was more important to them than her mother’s life.
Even the lady knight who’d been riding with the mother wasn’t stopping to check on the fallen woman, instead swinging her sword to try to hinder their pursuers.
“…People in this world ought to value others’ lives more,” I murmured.
“Satou?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Patting Mia on the head, I slid down the steep slope and ran over to the fallen woman.
The lady knight had already been pinned by one of the knights from the regiment, so I rushed past them and used Healing Magic on the duke’s wife, who was breathing as if through a pipe.
Just before the spell went into effect, I used my psychokinesis-like spell Magic Hand to adjust the woman’s neck to the proper position so that her bones wouldn’t heal at a strange angle.
“Phew, that should do it. Now…”
I picked up the unconscious woman and carried her back to the main highway, where I handed her off to the patrolling knights to look after her.
Once we had gotten the merchants’ carriages back into working order, I checked the map and saw that the young noble with the duke’s daughter was still playing chase with the squadron.
I wasn’t about to run out to help them—I’m not interested in stepping into a minefield of my own making.
Besides, the patrolling knights had a Wind Magic user helping another squad navigate to chase after them as well. Even if I didn’t get involved, it was probably only a matter of time.
“Well, if you’ll excuse us, then.”
“Please be sure to visit us. Our shop is at 30 Coin Street.”
“Yes, I certainly will!”
With that promise to the merchant, we took off into the sky with the help of Mia’s sylphs.
“Master! We’re flying, I declare!”
Number 8 and Nana’s other sisters began exclaiming in surprise. Most of the homunculi didn’t express much emotion, but the mood swings of Number 8 were quite dramatic.
As for the long-legged spider crab that had started the whole affair, I had Number 8 send it to a far-off mountainside.
“Welcome back, master. Did you take care of things over there?”
“Yes, it’s all been resolved.”
On our way back, some birdfolk soldiers and Wyvern Knights demanded identification from us, but we easily proved our innocence between my nobility papers, mithril badges, and Mia’s pointed elf ears.
It had been less than an hour since we left; everyone but Duke Vistall and company were still where we’d left them. It looked like the carriages hadn’t come to pick everyone up yet.
“Glad to see Nana’s sisters are doing well, too.”
“We have finally returned to the service of our master. From now on, we seven shall serve below Lady Mia and our other seniors like Number 7—that is, Nana—to devote ourselves to working for our master.”
Unlike Nana, Number 1 spoke quite smoothly.
“Were you able to visit the grave?”
“Yes, we visited our former master’s wife’s grave and buried his mementos there.”
While our group and Nana’s sisters were chatting, some of the peanut gallery started commenting among themselves about the identical sisters: “Even more shieldmaidens?” “What’s he gonna do with eight of them, fight a demon lord’s army?!” “C’mon, let me have one!” and so on. They must have gotten pretty bored of waiting by this point.
Once we had all exchanged greetings, Arisa turned to me. “So, master, are we going to keep waiting here?”
“Hmm…” Judging by the number of people waiting for a ride, it was doubtful that our turn would come anytime soon. “It’s not really that far. Why don’t we just walk?”
Besides, there were plenty of horse-drawn cabs along the way, so we could probably get a ride partway there.
“Is that all right with you, Lady Karina?”
At that, Baron Muno’s second daughter flipped her luxurious blond hair over her shoulder.
“But of course.”
Her trademark curls bounced, along with her other uniquely enormous assets.
My vision nearly got sucked in, but I used all of my willpower to resist.
“Tama’s fine, too…?”
“Pochi’s okay, too, of course, sir.”
Tama and Pochi, who were being held up like dolls by Number 6 and Number 8, chimed in cheerfully after Karina.
Nana’s sisters seemed to be just as fond of children as she was; the pair looked thrilled to be holding the animal-eared duo. Number 5 attempted to do the same with Mia but was met with a short “no” and stood there looking dejected.
“All right, let’s get going.”
I led everyone toward the gate to the royal capital.
Including Nana’s sisters, we had a big group of nineteen people total.
Since there were so many of us, it took a considerable amount of time to make our way past all the nosy onlookers, whose numbers had multiplied while I was off regrouping with the homunculi sisters.
Once we finally passed that crowd, we arrived at the royal capital in no time.
“Biiig…?”
“It’s way bigger than the Labyrinth City gate, sir!”
Gazing up at the enormous gate that bore a vague resemblance to the Arc de Triomphe, Tama and Pochi started getting excited, as did the rest of the group.
The gate seemed to be designed to boast of the culture and wealth of the vast Shiga Kingdom. There were elaborate carvings on it, as well as several hidden runelike circuits in the shadows.
“Line.”
“I suppose that’s to be expected when you’re entering the capital of a big kingdom.”
Mia and Arisa grumbled when they saw the line outside the gate.
We ignored the lines for merchants and ordinary citizens, heading to the nobles’ line, which consisted of fancy carriages. By the time we took our place, most of the carriages had already gone through, and our turn came around quickly.
“This is the nobles’ line. If you belong here, please show me the proof.”
The knight at the gate had a tense voice.
“Wow, he’s got a babely voice.”
“Babelyyy…?”
“It’s better to let baby boars grow up big before you hunt them so you get more meat, sir.”
The guard’s harsh expression softened for just a moment when he heard Arisa and the other kids talking behind me.
“I am Satou Pendragon, vassal and hereditary knight of the Muno Barony. This young woman is Baron Muno’s daughter, Lady Karina Muno.”
As I introduced myself, I showed the man my noble papers and Karina’s papers from her lady-in-waiting, Pina.
“My apologies, but I’ll have to inspect these.”
The knight looked at the papers and at each of us in turn.
He had the “Analyze” skill, so he was probably making sure we were the real deal.
“Forgive my rudeness, Lady Muno. Sir Pendragon, if it would not be too much trouble, might I ask why nobles such as yourselves are not riding in a carriage?”
Ohhh, that’s why the inspection was so thorough.
“We were on the airship that made an emergency landing here earlier. As no one came to pick us up, we decided to walk and enjoy the view of the capital, and perhaps pick up a cab along the way.”
That response seemed to satisfy him; he apologized that he couldn’t provide a carriage and let us through.
“…Hmm?”
Once we passed through the gate, Arisa rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times.
“What’s up?”
“I thought I saw something strange next to the castle there…”
“Oh, yeah. It’s a cherry blossom tree.”
According to Eluterina, the general manager of the Echigoya Company, it was a famous tree known as the “Royal Sakura” that started blooming around this time every year.
“The same size as the castle?”
“It’s not that surprising, is it?”
In our old world, this would be the stuff of fiction, but this world had Mountain-Trees and even the World Trees that stretched into outer space. A tree around the size of a castle wasn’t too unusual.
“Mm, normal.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Mia nodded sagely. Arisa seemed to remember the existence of those giant trees and nodded as well, but she still had a strange expression.
“So even though it’s that big, it’s not the Unwithering Sakura Tree, huh?”
“Yeah, I don’t think making a wish under this tree will guarantee the wish comes true.”
Arisa was clearly thinking of a sakura tree from a famous video game series, so I countered with my memories of the subject.
“That’s too bad.” Arisa grinned and turned the subject back to reality.
“So there are sakura trees in this world, too.”
“I hear the ancestral king Yamato got them from the elves.”
“The ancestral king again…? It’s like the legends of Kukai the monk.”
Arisa seemed wary of believing these legends.
“Now, now. I heard the cherry blossoms bloom in the royal capital around the new year—we should all come have a flower-viewing party when they’re in full bloom.”
“Ooh, nice! You should make sakura mochi!”
“Sure,” I agreed, to Arisa’s excitement.
As Arisa explained flower-viewing parties to the other kids and I listened fondly, Lady Karina’s lady-in-waiting, Pina, approached me.
“Sir Knight, will we be going straight to the baron’s home?”
“Yes, that was the plan.” I nodded.
We now had twice as many people as intended, though. I planned to first find out if we could all stay at the baron’s home, and find an inn if not.
“Master, I see a carriage without a horse, I declare.”
Number 8 tugged on my sleeve urgently. Following her gaze, I saw a carriage that looked like a nineteeth-century automobile.
“That’s a golem carriage.”
The carriages themselves were automated golems; I’d seen a few in Ougoch Duchy.
There were many variations of this kind of vehicle. The one we used for the parade in Labyrinth City was a golem carriage. From what the nobles in Labyrinth City told me, most people considered the latter to be more refined and the former more radical.
“Master, the flowers on the balconies are pretty, I report.”
Number 8 latched on to my arm and pointed up at the flowers decorating the houses along the road. She seemed to be friendlier than the other homunculi.
“Guilty?”
“Hmm, it’s on the fence.”
Mia and Arisa were whispering among themselves off to one side.
“Her boobs are small, so I’d say she’s presumed innocent.”
“Mm. Agreed.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Number 8, you are inconveniencing master, I report,” Nana said.
Number 8 looked up at me in surprise. “Master, am I an inconvenience?”
“Not at all.”
Although it is a little hard to walk like this.
I kept that part to myself, and Number 8 shot Nana a look with a self-satisfied huff. She had the same blank expression as Nana, but I’m sure that was her version of a smug smirk.
So as to avoid blocking the road, we decided to walk in pairs.
“There are a lot of pedestrians, since it’s a capital city and all.”
“Mm, agreed.”
The main street from the west gate was wide enough for four carriages, but since there were no signals or signs, traffic sometimes got congested at intersections and busy thoroughfares. Fortunately, there weren’t nearly as many carriages coming and going as cars on a modern-day road. There were sidewalks on either side, but many people were walking right in the road.
“It appears to be primarily humans here.”
As Liza watched the pedestrians passing, she produced a few cloaks from her Fairy Pack to cover up her tail and orange scales, as well as Tama’s and Pochi’s ears and tails.
According to the information on my map, the royal capital was 80 percent human. The remaining 20 percent were primarily scalefolk or beastfolk, while there were fewer than three hundred fairy races all told.
“Master, is there discrimination toward nonhuman races in the royal capital, too?” Lulu asked.
“I think it depends. Apparently there are beastfolk merchants and ambassadors from nonhuman countries.” I remembered what I’d heard from Labyrinth City nobles and Echigoya executives as I responded. “But I imagine it’s not as bad as in the northern parts of the Shiga Kingdom.”
In Seiryuu City, where I first met the beastfolk girls, most demi-human races except some fairies were only allowed to exist as slaves.
“There are lots of different kinds of carriages, too.”
“Yes, and there are other beasts pulling carriages and carts besides horses, like the runosaurs and dullalkosaurs we saw in the old capital.”
Lulu and Liza were talking among themselves.
“Gorgeooous…”
“Very amazing carriage, sir!”
An extravagant three-tier carriage passed us from behind. It was displaying the national flag of the Shiga Kingdom, with the crest of the Ministry of Labyrinth Resources on the side.
“Wow, that seems excessive.”
Arisa raised her eyebrows at the ten-odd kingdom knights who were guarding the carriage.
“It is an official kingdom carriage. I think that’s a normal amount of guards.”
“Hmm, you think so.”
Finally, my knowledge of heraldry came in handy.
“Master, over there! A huge turtle is pulling a cart, I declare!”
Number 8 hopped up and down, pointing at a giant tortoise lumbering down the street with a six-wheel cart in tow.
“I’m surprised it doesn’t dent the cobblestones with all that weight,” Arisa remarked.
“Maybe it’s reinforced with Earth Magic?” I replied.
According to my AR display, that was part of a delegation from the leprechaun kingdom.
Leprechauns had brown skin and, like most fairy races, were short-statured with slightly pointed ears. Though they weren’t as rare as elves, it was still unusual to see the adventure- and prank-loving leprechauns in human territory.
As we continued making our way through the main street of the capital, someone called out to me.
“Sir Pendragon!”
I recognized the person calling to me from a carriage window. It was one of the top staff from the explorers’ guild in Labyrinth City Celivera, a heavy drinker who always joined drinking parties with the guildmaster and me.
These guild employees had come on the same airship as we had to deliver the floormaster spoils to the king.
“The nobles’ quarters are some distance away, and there aren’t many cabs in this area. Would you like a ride at least partway?”
“I truly appreciate the offer, but we’ve got a big group here…”
“That’s all right. There are two more carriages behind us, and we’d feel safer having mithril adventurers like yourselves along with us.”
“Ah, right.” I lowered my voice. “You don’t have any knights…”
“Yes, did you see the Ministry of Labyrinth Resources carriage pass before we did? That was a decoy.”
Come to think of it, the Labyrinth City explorers’ guild was an official organization under the management of the Ministry of Labyrinth Resources.
“Our plan is to quietly make our way to the royal castle while any ruffians are distracted by that one.”
They were high level themselves, and the guild employees serving as guards were hardened former adventurers, but it still didn’t quite seem like enough.
Since I was a little worried, I agreed that we should ride with them while also serving as guards.
We wouldn’t all fit in one carriage, of course. I rode in the first carriage with Pochi, Tama, Lady Karina, and Pina. The rest of my group and Lady Karina’s guardian maids rode in the second carriage. Nana and her sisters were in the third.
The second and third carriages were box-shaped carriages with no roof, basically cargo carriages, which is why I prioritized Lady Karina for the first one.
“Are you all headed to the royal castle?”
“The other two carts are carrying cores, so technically they’re stopping outside the second castle wall at the core storage warehouse, but yes.”
According to the executive staff member, he and two other employees with the “Item Box” skill were storing the most valuable spoils from the floormasters in their Item Boxes, while the rest were carried in high-capacity Magic Bags provided by the royal family.
The luggage piled on the carriage roofs and floors was mostly just for decoy purposes.
The luggage even contained some junky magic tools in case someone tried to magically search them.
“Mew!”
Curled up on my lap, Tama suddenly perked up her ears.
At the same time, a red dot appeared on my radar.
“Is something wrong?” the employee asked, noticing my change in expression.
“Looks like some thieves went after the decoy.”
I pointed at a pillar of white smoke rising up ahead.
According to my radar information, around thirty members of a criminal guild were attacking the Ministry of Labyrinth Resources carriage.
They seemed to plan to steal the goods from the carriage under cover of smoke bombs.
Gah…
As the smoke spread, I heard a boom and saw a burst of fire.
A mage from the criminal guild, standing on the roof of a three-story building near the site of the attack, had used the Fire Magic spell Fire Circle on the ground.
Between the smoke and the circle of flames, the knights on the ground couldn’t seem to locate the mage.
“Crazypaaants…”
“Criminals in the royal capital are really advanced.”
Even in violent Labyrinth City, no one would try something like this.
“No… We hardly ever have idiots who try something this bold.”
So it was rare even in the royal capital, too.
At this rate, people would definitely get injured by the attack magic, so I decided to intervene just a little.
“Tama?”
“Aye!”
I held out my hand, and Tama immediately produced a rock from her Fairy Pack and placed it in my palm, as if reading my mind. It was the perfect size for throwing.
I leaned out the carriage window and tossed it with just my arm strength, holding back so it wouldn’t be lethal. The rock hit the mage squarely in the stomach and knocked him out immediately.
I was surprised, however, when he toppled off the roof from the impact. But at least he hit every balcony and cloth overhang on the way down, ensuring that the impact didn’t kill him.
That was like a stunt from an old kung-fu movie, I thought foolishly, feeling secretly relieved that I hadn’t killed someone.
Of course, if it really came down to it, I would’ve used my ever-present Magic Hand to slow his fall.
…Geh!
The red dot indicating the criminal guild mage abruptly vanished.
He hadn’t belatedly been killed by the fall—a nearby royal knight had stabbed him with a sword.
Wow, no mercy…
“Master?”
Arisa and the others came up from the cart behind us, having noticed the situation.
“I don’t think we’ll need to get involved.”
Even as I spoke, someone used Wind Magic to blow away the white smoke covering the area.
As soon as the blinding smoke was cleared away, the royal knights began their counterattack against the criminal guild.
In seconds, blood was spraying in all directions like something out of a splatter film. Even with three times the number of people, the criminals couldn’t make up for the difference in level and battle experience. Some of them tried to run away, but they were chased and cut down in seconds.
I automatically turned away; I’m not good with this kind of brutality.
“It’s over…”
“They killed all the bad guys, sir.”
Before long, the attackers had been completely wiped out.
When I turned back, I saw that some city guards had arrived and were dragging the criminals’ corpses off to the side of the road, while the Ministry of Labyrinth Resources carriage and their royal guards were getting ready to keep moving.
“Looks like they took care of things. Let’s keep moving, too.”
The carriage started moving again not long after the executive spoke.
When I saw a few innocent bystanders who’d been harmed in the process, I gave them some watered-down lesser potions.
Fortunately, there weren’t any more incidents like that one. The carriages brought us to the street leading to the area where the lesser nobles’ mansions stood; from there, we were able to take a cab to Baron Muno’s mansion in the royal capital.
“Pretty snug for a baron’s mansion, isn’t it?”
Just as Arisa said, Baron Muno’s royal capital home was a little small.
Of course, that was just relative to the idea of a lord’s manor. It was a fairly standard size for a normal baron’s home, and certainly luxurious by the standards of a modern Japanese home.
“Sir Knight!”
A familiar-looking maid who was working in the garden spotted me and came running over.
Hearing her, the other maids appeared from inside the mansion, too.
“““Welcome home, Sir Pendragon!””” they chorused.
I appreciated their warm welcome, but…
“Girls! Where’s your greeting for Lady Karina?!”
“Ack! Miss Pina!”
Pina flew into a rage at them for neglecting to greet their actual master.
Lady Karina herself was chatting with Tama and Pochi about the appearance of the mansion and didn’t seem to have noticed the perceived insult.
“““Welcome home, Lady Karina.”””
As the maids greeted her in another chorus, Lady Karina stepped forward, flipping back her glamorous golden curls and puffing out her chest.
“Thank you for the welcome!” she declared. “It’s a pleasure to be here!”
Hopefully now we could finally relax.
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